The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, is outraged by a publication in the British newspaper The Guardian, which says that Belarusian Andrei Fomochkin “ruined the opening of the Paralympics” when he took out the Russian flag.
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“This is real modern fascism, camouflaged as something related to the law. This is written by a publication of a country that considers itself civilized, people who call themselves journalists,” Zakharova said today.
She officially invited Guardian representatives to Russia to meet with Russian Paralympians.
“I want to officially invite representatives of the Guardian to Russia to meet with Russian Paralympians. If you can write such things in your warm, comfortable office, I think you have the strength, courage and conscience to look these people in the eyes. True, some of them are blind,” Zakharova said.
Russians will not take part in the 2016 Games. The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) disqualified the Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC) and did not allow Russian athletes to participate in the competition. Attempts to challenge this decision in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) led nowhere. The IPC also denied more than 175 Russian Paralympians individual access to participate in the 2016 Games.